Special Selections from the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival

22 Feb Special Selections from the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival

3 Program Series
March 2nd-4th, 2012

One of the world’s leading festivals devoted to short films, Clermont-Ferrand in France is a vital showcase and a market for shorts, attracting over 100,000 visitors each year. Often referred to as the ‘Cannes’ of short film, it is now in the fourth decade. Originally Clermont-Ferrand screened only fiction films and only on 16mm and 35mm. But with the arrival of new technologies, a new competition called LABO (The LAB) was established in 2002. The LAB brings audiences films at the crossroads of different techniques and genres such as Fiction/Documentary, Experimental/Fiction, Animation/Documentary, etc. Dance Films Association in collaboration with Balagan Film Series (Boston) hosts Calmin Borel, one of the curators of the LABO Competition, and Alla Kovgan, a 2012 LABO jury member and filmmaker who put together three exceptional programs of films from the collections of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (France).
The project is supported by the Cine2000 and the Cultural Services of the French Consulate in New York and Boston.

Dance and Rhythms of Life celebrates choreography for the camera spanning over two decades. Absurdity and beauty of everyday life, personal dramas and comedies, relationships of people, objects and the machines are all expressed through dance, gesture and movement. Virtuosic, moving and inspiring!
Approx. 90 minutes

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La Peau / France / 1993 / 09’00
dir. Gilles Moisset, chor. Christian Bourigault
Alone, a man sketches his auto portrait in front of a mirror in his studio.
Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers / Sweden / 2001 / 10’00
dir. Ola Simonsson , Johannes Stjärne Nilsson
Six drummers participate in a well-planned “musical attack”. As an elderly couple leave their apartment the drummers take it over. Using everyday objects they give a concert in four movements: Kitchen, Bedroom, Bathroom, and Living Room.
You Are My Favorite Chair / United Kingdom, England / 2003 / 11’40
dir. Robert Hardy, chor. John Rowley and Joh Williams
A man and woman book a hotel room to dance, to make love, to fight, to decay and to die.
Un / France / 2011 / 08’58 (sneak preview)
dir./chor. Philippe Decouflé
A dance triptych that illustrates three stages of a feeling of love, in a graphical and poetic way. A dance that calls out to the filmed version, through the force of its performers and the fragility of the poetic words in play.
We Have Decided Not To Die / Australia / 2003 / 11’00
dir. Daniel Askill
Three rituals. Three people. Three modern day journeys of transcendence. (AUDIENCE PRIZE 2004)
Choros / United States / 2011 / 12’44 (sneak preview)
dir. Michael Langan , Terah Maher
A chorus of women emerge from the movements of a single dancer in this dreamlike pas de trente-deux.
Casus Belli / Greece / 2010 / 11’11
dir. Georgios Zois
All kinds of people are waiting in seven different queues. The first person of each queue becomes the last of the next one, thus creating an enormous human line. But at the end of the line, it all begins backwards again…
Tout morose / France, Belgium / 1997 / 05’00
dir. Olivier Megaton, chor. Dominique Hervieu
Yellow and blue pencils, “Tout morose”, matching notes in a notebook, Jeanne Moreau, a palette of animated words, a recipe for a few magnificent moments.
Il Capo / Italy / 2010 /15’00
dir. Yuri Ancarani
In a marble quarry, the chief coordinates and guides quarrymen and heavy-duty machines using a language consisting solely of gestures and signs. (GRAND PRIX LABO 2012)
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Heavy Heads/ Denmark / 2010 / 7’00
dir. Helena Frank
In a grey kitchen, Monika lives a solitary life, to the sounds of a dripping water tap and a buzzing housefly. Monika is attempting to seduce the housefly when a sad stranger suddenly surprises her by entering through the wrong door. A minimalistic black comedy about…
Wind Over Lake /United Kingdom, Scotland / 2010 / 34’00 dir. Jeorge Elkin
This film did not set out to be about anything in particular, but it is about something. Most probably it is about the people that feature in the film and the man that made it. AUDIENCE PRIZE 2012 (sneak preview)Keha mälu (Body Memory) / Estonia / 2011/ 9’00
dir. Ülo Pikkov
Our body remembers more than we imagine. It remembers the sorrow and pain of our predecessors. It keeps alive the stories of our parents and grandparents as well as their ancestors. How far back is it possible to go in your bodily memory? (Best Animation 2012)
On the Way to the Sea/ Canada, Quebec, China / 2010 / 19’00 / Chinese with English Subtitles
dir. Tao Gu
A combination of fictional elements, documentary fragments and visual abstraction, reflecting on the fragile human condition. (Special Jury Prize 2011)
Erään hyönteisen tuho (Death of an Insect) / Finland / 2010 / 7’00
dir. Hannes Vartiainen , Pekka Veikkolainen
In a lifeless urban landscape where time itself has stopped its crawl, a mad ballet is commencing and a newly-hatched butterfly is about to die.
Bobby Yeah / United Kingdom, England / 2011 / 23’00
dir. Robert Morgan
Bobby Yeah is a petty thug who likes brawling and stealing stuff. One day, he steals some very dangerous individuals’ favorite pet, and finds himself in deep trouble. He really should learn, but he just can’t help it. (Special Jury Prize 2012)
The Centrifuge Brain Project/ Germany / 2011 / 7’00
dir. Till Nowak
The “Centrifuge Brain Project” is a scientific experiment that started in the 1970s. It involves an amusement park to enhance peoples’ brain capacity. Dr Laslowicz explains the project. He believes that centrifuging people with 20.000 horsepower solves human problems.
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A dance uprising against disappearing jobs, an orchestration of football fans, an exquisitely choreographed voyage through everyday life during the summer vacations, dances of light throughout the city of Tokyo, a dancing romance set against the backdrop of New York’s gay scene… A splendid musical mix!
Approx. 80 minutes

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One Man Walking / United Kingdom, England / 2011 / 17’17 (sneak preview)
dir. Margaret Williams
ONE MAN WALKING explores some of the intensity and challenges of life in the metropolis, using krumping – an expressive and highly energetic dance movement – combined with the uplifting excitement of free-running.
Le Silence des machines / France / 2007 / 08’50
dir. Paul Calori, Kostia Testut
The workers at “Fil de Soie, Inc.” are in shock: the machines used for manufacturing women’s lingerie have disappeared, moved to a country where work costs nothing. Marc, the foreman, and his workers have made up their minds: they have to fight!
RIP Rich / United States / 2009 / 03’57
dir. Yoram Savion
This music video features NoNoize, Man, BJ & D-real from TURF FEINZ original Turf Dancing. It is produced by YAK FILMS – a visual wrecking crew that uses multimedia to share the talents of young people around the world. Today the name YAK is synonymous with a unique style of street-based documentation of the global dance movement.
Wir sind dir treu (We are loyal to you) / Switzerland, Germany / 2005 / Documentary / 09’20 / PRIX CANAL+ 2006
dir. Michael Koch
As a dedicated singer of FC Basel, Haufner is responsible for the atmosphere during the soccer game. He starts singing the songs, sets the tempo, animates and choreographs the fans.
Little Minx Exquisite Corpse: Rope A Dope / United States / 2008 / Fiction / 05’20
dir. Laurent Briet
In a neighborhood boxing gym, a young girl knocks out all of her opponents.
Pikapika, Lightning Doodle Project / Japan / 2007 / Animation/Experimental / 04’00
dir. Takeshi Nagata, Kazue Monno
Exploring parks, train tracks, schools, hallways and Tokyo Bay.
The Waterwalk / France / 2010 / Animation / 04’21
dir. Johannes Ridder
A man moves to the music of the Violent Femmes in this joyful choreography centered on his gait.
LILA /France/ 2008/ Experimental/ 13’00
dir. Broadcast Club/ Nicolas Schmerkin
In Hinduism, Lila is a way of describing all reality, including the cosmos, as the outcome of creative play by the divine absolute. In Broadcast’s Club’s film, LILA is a masterfully choreographed journey through everyday life of humans – powerful and moving in its simplicity and its intensity.
Boot Camp / United States / 1996 / 06’00
dir. John Scott Matthews
A musical romance set against the backdrop of New York’s gay S&M scene and a homage to underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger. How to find the romance inherent in the courtship of any two people, regardless of sexual preference or proclivity.
Raymond / United Kingdom, England, France / 2006 / Experimental / 05’00 / BEST DIGITAL FILM 2007
dir. Bif, Francois Roisin, Fabrice Le Nezet, Jules Janaud
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